Electrification of India

Energy is at the core of economic development and in the two defining moments of world economic history, the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, energy played a crucial role. In the former, through the development of agricultural techniques, human societies began to harness energy from the sun on a massive scale. In the latter, industrial processes have been developed through the exploitation of solar energy stored in fossil fuels.

There are two types of Electricity, Static Electricity and Current Electricity. Static Electricity is made by rubbing together two or more objects and making friction while Current electricity is the flow of electric charge across an electrical field.

Static Electricity

Static electricity is when electrical charges build up on the surface of a material. It is usually caused by rubbing materials together. For Example rub a balloon on a wool and hold it up to the wall.

Current Electricity

Current is the rate of flow of electrons. It is produced by moving electrons and it is measured in amperes. With electricity, current is a measure of the amount of energy transferred over a period of time. That energy is called a flow of electrons. One of the results of current is the heating of the conductor. When an electric stove heats up, it's because of the flow of current.

The past decade has seen a rapid expansion of power lines across India, with laggard states catching up with the rest of the country in electrifying villages that had remained in the dark so long. Yet, most states which saw a sharp growth in rural electrification between 2004-05 and 2013-14 have seen little increase in actual power consumption in rural areas, according to consumption data recently published by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

The faster pace of electrification has not changed the lives of the average citizen in these states much. Madhya Pradesh, which has been projected as a model of electrification, with nearly all its villages electrified by 2011-12, shows a fall of 0.4 units in rural per capita consumption of electricity between 2004-05 and 2011-12 against a national increase of 3.4 units in rural per capita power consumption over the same period. Several northeastern states which saw rapid rural electrification during this period also saw a decrease in per capita consumption of electricity over this period.

Top states which took a big leap in rural electrification over the past few years don’t fare well when it comes to gains in rural power consumption (see chart). Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, Jharkhand claims the most rapid pace of electrification of its villages, with an impressive 89% villages electrified by 2011-12, a jump of 56 percentage points over 2004-05. However, the consumption of electricity per capita in the state has risen by a mere 1.5 units.

Rural electricity access in India is currently inadequate for needs of the rural population, and there is observed and revealed willingness to pay for better electricity supply. The Indian government is pursuing large scale initiatives towards greater access mainly through grid expansion. The correct combination of financial support mechanisms and adjustments in the regulatory framework could allow innovative approaches to rural electrification to thrive alongside the centralized grid expansion approach.